Medical cannabis and CBD in sport

Cannabis and sport don’t immediately come off as a therapeutic match, but more research is suggesting that the plant and its cannabinoids can have a significant impact on the recovery of athletes. For years, cannabis has been classified as a performance-enhancing drug and, while activists may argue against that classification, there is certainly some evidence to suggest that cannabis can help athletes in a number of ways.

In the context of recovery from an exasperating athletic outing, cannabis has been shown to help significantly with inflammation and chronic pain. The use of CBD, which doesn’t have the psychoactive properties, has become particularly popular among athletes. Because CBD is now available in whole flower, as concentrate or an edible, the ability to consume it for recovery can prove a healthy option for athletes open to alternative therapy options.1

While there is ample anecdotal evidence, namely reports from former players, that cannabis can have a significant positive impact on performance. There have been a number of former NBA players that claim to have smoked cannabis during the entirety of their careers. As cannabis has come out of the shadows and into the mainstream, more players than ever have started to voice vocal support for cannabis in professional sport.2

A star-studded lineup of advocates

The relationship between professional athletes and medical cannabis has only recently come to light. For decades, reports have suggested that athletes of all stripes have used cannabis and its extract, both during games and for recovery after events, but most of those stories have been muffled by seasoned PR professionals, and chalked up to folklore. In recent years, however, a number of former players have come out in support of the plant they say helped them through their careers.

These days, the roster of retired star players that now inhabit the cannabis space is extensive. That list includes former NFL greats Ricky Williams, Jake Plummer and Eugene Munroe. Other former NFL players, turned cannabis activists, include Nate Jackson and Kyle Turley, the latter of whom is a part of the Gridiron Cannabis Coalition, a group that advocates for the allowance of medical cannabis in the National Football League.3

Other celebrity athletes who support cannabis include MMA stars Nate Diaz and Ronda Rousey, and the NHL’s Riley Cote. Likely the biggest cannabis sports celebrity, former NBA all-star Cliff Robinson was notorious for violating the league’s drug policy for his cannabis use. In recent years, Robinson has been spotted pitching his Uncle Spliffy brand, a cannabis sports label that features athletic-based cannabis products.

Athletes greet cannabis policy reforms

In states and countries where cannabis is now medically and recreationally legal, some athletes have moved from the sports spotlight to the cannabis industry. Canada’s Ross Rebagliati, who was stripped of his Olympic snowboarding medal for testing positive for cannabis metabolites, has since become a cannabis celebrity of sorts in the country. An entrepreneur in the space, Rebagliati now runs Ross’ Gold, a company that produces and sells cannabis products.4

As drug laws shift, the connection between cannabis and sport becomes more established, and more athletes come out in support of the herbal remedy, it stands to reason that professional sports leagues will have to look at the realities of cannabis as a prospective option for athletes. Even if psychoactive cannabinoids like THC were omitted from the equation, athletes of all stripes could still assuredly benefit from access to CBD-based flowers, oils and topicals.

Lynn Wells only nibbles on a cannabis brownie monthly(,) but she’s one of many Canadian seniors clamouring to a plant they tried decades ago and have now returned to in light of some aches, pains and other conditions.

Cannabis has been used by cultures the world over – from the hunters and gatherers of China, to the philosophers of ancient Greece – for thousands of years. With its roots in the Himalayan mountains, the cannabis plant has spread across the globe, its seed carried on the wind, often without the help of human hands.

The endocannabinoid system is found in all vertebrate animals and even some invertebrates are reported to have an ECS. According to some reports, the number of endocannabinoid receptors in the human body is greater than all of the other neuromodulatory systems combined, including serotonin and dopamine. In other words, the endocannabinoid system is critically important to maintaining health and homeostasis.

For two particular reasons, there are few topics being explored in the cannabis space more
exhilarating than the endocannabinoid system. First, for a lack of research in the area, medical
schools have almost exclusively omitted the system from the curriculum. Second, as drug
policies have evolved, researchers have been allowed to study the system, and its inherent
connection to cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant.

As medical cannabis has gained acceptance as a viable treatment option over the past two decades,
so too has the list of symptoms the plant has been shown to help grown. No longer is the plant merely
used to treat chronic pain or extreme conditions like HIV/AIDS, it now complements nearly every
therapy option available.

When discussing cannabis, it is important to remember that the line between science and folklore
can at times be fickle. In the context of cannabis as a treatment, for instance, there is only one
direct scientific source (THC found in ashes) that cannabis was used as a medicine, around 400
AD.

Insomnia, sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome are but a few of the ills that fall under the
category of sleep condition. Though not quick to receive much attention from the healthcare
community, the threat associated with sleep conditions – from obesity to cardiovascular disease –
is stark.

The decision to adopt cannabis as a treatment option is, like most significant changes in life, very
personal. Whether you’ve decided to incorporate medical cannabis into your routine to treat
chronic pain, sleep issues, cancer symptoms or social anxiety, you’ve likely done so primarily
for one reason: to feel better.

Can cannabis cure cancer? To date, there is no scientific evidence to back the theory that
cannabis kills cancer cells. In fact, most responsible cannabis professionals – leery of a culture of
misinformation – will caution patients to ignore that claim.

There are few experts, if any, on the research and development side of the cannabis conversation that deny the holistic efficacy of THC. Despite there being a common misperception that the most popular and notorious of all the cannabinoids in the cannabis plant is only responsible for a good time, there is a wealth of scientific data that refutes this assertion. In fact, insiders have known – long before medical cannabis became an acceptable adjunct treatment option – that THC has profound therapeutic benefits.

The list of sophisticated new cannabis products lining product shelves of this new space is extensive, and impressive. More often than not, these products serve as a responsible introduction to medical cannabis. Where pipes and bongs have a tendency to lend stereotype to any conversation of cannabis therapy, new delivery methods like oils, edibles and topicals tend to have exactly the opposite effect.

Cannabis treatment is a moot therapy option without a firm grasp on how to dose. This very fact has perhaps been best illustrated by the fact the medical community, until recently, has shied away from throwing full support behind the plant and its potential. However, as new products develop, and fresh ways of dosing have become available to patients, so too have the means of dosing surfaced. As a result, more and more practitioners have started prescribing cannabis- based concentrates.